Parisi Mixes It Up

Cardinals righthander Mike Parisi made his first Grapefruit League start yesterday, and Baseball America correspondent Derrick Goold notes that Parisi is still figuring out the optimal way to mix his best pitch—his curveball—with the rest of his repertoire.

“I don’t need to throw it all the time,” Parisi said. “I can use it as my out pitch, instead of always for-a-strike pitch.”

Parisi, the Cardinals’ No. 23 prospect, leaned heavily on his curveball last year en route to a 4.91 ERA in 165 innings with Triple-A Memphis last year. The 24-year-old also throws a sinker, which helped him induce a 1.45 groundout-to-flyout ratio last year, as well as a changeup that’s still developing.